Detain and Interrogate
by Nina of the Galaxy
Summary: Felicity talks to Laurel about dating her new boss and Laurel and Oliver navigating wanting Felicity to be happy and wanting to protect her while navigating her own feelings.
1. Pinky swears, Ice Cream, and Confessions

Title: Pinky Swears, Two Pints of Ice Cream, and Confessions about Boys  
Words: 2571  
Pairing: Laurel/Felicity brotp  
Genre: friendship/humor  
Status: done

Summary: _Felicity comes to Laurel with a dating dilemma and they solve it over ice cream. _

* * *

There was a knock on the door and she couldn't look up, because there was a very persnickety file she was trying to find, "What do you need?" She asked in a pleasant enough voice for a woman who had her head in a filing cabinet.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second, Laurel?" Felicity asked her as she sat at her desk, trying to figure out how to restructure the legal system and who was going to go where.

Laurel summoned her in with her hand while she put some files away, pen in her hair which was slightly frizzed. "As long as you don't mind the mess. It's been a little crazy the past couple of weeks. We're still trying to rebuild some of the lower tiers of the legal system."

"How do you manage to do this and be a vigilante at night?" Felicity asked as she looked around.

Laurel laughed. "Oh, I don't need a lot of sleep. I live on consternation most days."

"Is that the most healthy? I mean not that you don't look healthy. You look great, but medically, there's always weird side effects?" She rambled.

Laurel put her pen down and looked Felicity in the eye. "I'm fine. The city needs a way to deal with things. Besides, wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked.

"Right, yes," Felicity chuckled a little, and blew out a breathe. "I think my boss likes me."

"He should. You're a great asset. Any boss should be thrilled to have you working for them." Laurel said as she leafed through some files and put them in the right order.

Felicity made an embarrassed face. "No, I think my boss really likes me."

"Oh, well, how do you feel about that?" Laurel asked. "Because I can get him slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit if you're not comfortable with the way he's been acting."

"Diggle said you would say something like that." Felicity chuckled. "But no. I actually think I like him. I mean he's smart and he loves Doctor Who and he can talk to me like i'm a person, but I wonder if it's too soon."

Laurel nodded. She knew a little something about that. "When was your last relationship, Liss?" She asked with a smile.

"long term, when I was in college, the next one was several months ago. With Barry. But he has Iris." Felicity admitted.

Laurel put the files down and put her hands over them, "Then m'dear, what exactly is the problem? You've been at this job a while. You're competent and you are beautiful and smart. Don't sell yourself short. This man would be lucky to have you as a date. Go for it."

"Well, there's a thing." Felicity said and fidgeted with her hands. She didn't know how to exactly tell Laurel. They were trying to save her after all. But things were confusing.

Laurel nodded. "I assumed there would be. If it was just Barry, you could have riddled that on your own."

"Yeah, probably could have," Felicity said as she blushed and looked down at her lap, "You see, there was a thing that happened the night of Slade's whole 'I'll kill everyone you love, Ollie' plan. God, he was crazy," Felicity noted. "I mean he wanted to kill you because it was Laurel and Oliver, always and forever."

Laurel rearranged herself in her her chair. "You know, you don't have to sugarcoat it for me. I'm a big girl." Laurel smiled. "Besides, I was there. Slade didn't exactly keep his mouth shut."

"Right," Felicity said as her teeth clinked together. "Well, Oliver and I went back to the Queen Mansion and he said he loved me in front of Slade's cameras and then…he kissed me. And he told me that it was an act, but I'm not sure. I mean he always gets really weird when Daniel is mentioned. But then there's also you. And his feelings for you. And I like Daniel. But I liked Ollie for a long time."

Laurel sighed. "We need ice cream for this. Come on. I'm done for the day anyway." Laurel said as she put some files in her handbag quickly and put the rest of the stuff away.

Felicity sat there with a look of absolute shock on her face. "What's going on?" She asked.

"We're going to get in our cars, go to the grocery store, get some ice cream, go back to my place and talk about this dilemma of which I'm an expert on. Or does that not sound like a good idea?" Laurel asked with a smile.

Felicity shook her head quickly, "No, that sounds like a great idea," She said as she followed Laurel out of her office and to the parking lot where Laurel headed up their little expedition and they stopped at a grocer's on the way to Laurel's place.

While they stood in the ice cream aisle looking at different confections of various sorts, Felicity wiggled a little bit, "So you're really okay with Oliver saying he loves me?" She asked, a little confused.

Laurel smiled. "You know, he said I love you to my sister too when they were dating. I was okay with them, why wouldn't I be okay with you two?" She asked. "But let's wait till we get to my place to discuss all that, okay, for now ice cream. I'm thinking about some cherry garcia or chocolate peppermint crunch for me, what about you?"

Felicity looked at the display and eliminated the ones with nuts immediately, because she didn't exactly feel like going to the hospital tonight, as much as she liked Laurel. The chocolate peppermint chunk and the cherry garcia sounded really good. "Well, if you want to get one, I'll get the other, and we'll just figure it out when we get to your apartment."

Laurel grabbed pint containers of both and headed to the checkout where Felicity stood beside her with her purse in front of her like a classic forties photograph.

"How are y'all doing today?" The cashier asked them with a bright smile, a button indicated her name was Angel.

Laurel unzipped her purse, got out her wallet, and smiled to Angel, "We're doing great." She said as Angel scanned both of the ice creams.

"That'll be 8 dollars," Angel said and Laurel swiped her debit card and signed the little electronic pad. Angel gave them the bag with their ice cream which Felicity insisted she carry since Laurel paid for it and Laurel reluctantly let her.

When they got to Laurel's place, which only took about three minutes to travel to by car, Laurel pushed the elevator button and they ascended to the third floor and went down the left hall and down to apartment 305. "So this is where you live? It's weird that there's not more security since you live in such a nice neighborhood." Felicity said, remarking mostly to herself.

"Yeah, well, don't need so much anymore now that I can defend myself." She shrugged. Oliver must have told her about Laurel's problems with keeping people out her apartment. "Besides, if Oliver had told me in the first place that it was his enemies that were trying to come and get me I don't think I would have known what to do."

Felicity understood. This whole thing about having enemies who would think that Laurel was a thing that they could use to get to Oliver and more specifically the hood/the arrow was a weird concept. It was hard to deal with because it made Laurel out to be less of a person and more of an object and Laurel was no object. "So no break-ins anymore?" She asked, with an eyebrow quirked.

"Nope," Laurel smiled. "Thankfully, most of that gets taken care of when Oliver and I go out at night. They don't know where to find us, but the criminals, they know how to get our attention. I mean you know."

Felicity followed Laurel into the kitchen where she grabbed two spoons and then headed back out. "So…" Felicity said as they sat on the couch and doled out ice cream. "Oliver and I," She said and let the silence be awkward.

"You and Oliver," Laurel said as she dug her spoon into her ice cream. "Start at the beginning."

Felicity let out a breath and dug into her ice cream too. She took a bit and started. "I have always had a crush on Oliver. He's funny when he wants to be and he's attractive. And it seemed like I was important to him. Not that you're not important to him. But we got to share this thing that no other girl in his life really ever got to share. I got to know the man behind the mask. And so you know, I had a crush on him. And then there was Barry, who was super cute and who knew exactly what it was like to be the smartest person in the room. And he was bad dancer, but that was adorable."

"Oliver was like that too at first. Well, not the smartest person in the room, but a bad dancer in a cute way," Laurel smiled as she thought about memories of high school and dancing with him.

Felicity was struck by this admission. "You never talk about before. About when you guys were a thing. He doesn't talk about it either."

Laurel stuck her spoon in her ice cream for a second. "Felicity, I was so in love with him back then. When he cheated on me, with my sister anyway, it felt like both drowned at that point. And so I let our love story die for five years. I let it die with us. Because I couldn't help but feel like dying every time I talked about it, because it would put me through the painful realization he was dead again. So I let it stay that way for five years." She told Felicity as she looked at her ice cream.

"You know you don't have to be strong for everyone." Felicity said as she put her hand on Laurel's leg. "You can let other people be strong for you once in a while, Laur."

Laurel nodded. "I know that now. But anyway, let's talk about you and Oliver," She said as she wiped away a tear.

"Are you sure?" Felicity asked as she saw the tear wiped away, "We don't have to do it now, we can just eat ice cream."

Laurel laughed. "This isn't about your potentially burgeoning relationship with my exboyfriend, the perenially hot superhero. This is about me still being touched by people willing to be strong for me."

"And then he got with Sara and it was cool, but it was a little bit awkward, because she got to be with him even though she was someone he cared about. And I get it, it was because they were comfortable and she could defend herself, but I mean, he told me he couldn't be with someone he cared about. And then he told me he loved me in front of the cameras and kissed me. He asked me to help him with Slade for you. And now I don't know where we stand. But Daniel is nice and he's sweet and he understands that my life is busy and he doesn't mind the occasional dinner blow off and he likes doctor who and he's a businessman. And lets me be more than just the IT girl which is where I was with Oliver. And he asks me how I'm feeling. And he understands how valuable my job is. He also understands that I could use the power I have for evil and he treats that with a certain amount of respect." Felicity finished as she pushed some ice cream in her mouth.

Laurel smiled and shook her head and as she looked up to Felicity, she put her hand on Felicity's shoulder, "You wanna know what I think?" She asked.

Felicity nodded enthusiastically, feeding herself more ice cream.

"I think you should ask Daniel out. Get to know him. Oliver, is not the most nuanced with his feelings and if he feels something he's repressing, which he might be for you, needs to know that he's not the only man that can make you happy. And if you like Daniel and you want to be with him, then you should be with him. If Oliver comes in with some sweeping declarations, you have no obligation to take him for it because he made you feel special. He's not the only man who can make you feel special." She said. She swept some of Felicity loose hair behind her ear and smiled helpfully. "And that's good, because he's not what makes you extraordinary, Liss. You make you special, okay?"

Felicity nodded and put her ice cream on the table, "You don't think it's weird to date your boss?" She asked.

"I dated Sebastian Blood. He was technically my boss." Felicity laughed, unguarded.

Felicity nodded. "You know Oliver loves you. I can see it in his eyes."

"We'll always love each other." Laurel shrugged.

Felicity chuckled. "That's not what I meant and you knew it."

"I knew what you meant." Laurel nodded, "But he just needs something different right now. He'll come back around eventually."

"You know for what it's worth," Felicity said as she looked into her ice cream. She smiled, "You are my hero. You manage to believe in love and fate and all of that even when the whole world has been so against you for so many years."

Laurel smiled. "If you let the world make you give up on your beliefs, they win." She told Felicity, "I've tried my very best to live as if I can win." She smiled. "You know I'm so gonna wanna meet Daniel right? And who knows maybe he has a hot rich friend he can set me up with." She winked.

"Laurel?" Felicity asked.

She looked up to Felicity. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad we're friends." Felicity smiled.

Laurel smiled back. "I'm glad we're friends too. But I was serious about Daniel. If he has hot rich friends, I want to know."

For the first time in a while she felt like she had a permanent girlfriend, which was good because there were things that neither of them could talk to with Diggle or Oliver. Felicity smiled as she picked up her ice cream, "I think we can figure something out for you." She looked back to Laurel for a minute. "Are you sure that you'd be okay with me dating Oliver if things don't work out with Daniel?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure that I'm gonna be okay. I'm sure that you are gonna be good for him. And I'm sure that I want you to be happy. So don't worry too much about me. Right now, you should just try to be happy with Daniel. The rest will come in time. I'll tell you if I can't deal with something, okay?" She asked. "No secrets?" Laurel put out her pinky for a pinky promise.

"No secrets," Felicity said as she entwined her pinky with Laurel's.

Laurel grinned. "So do you have a picture of him?" She asked.


	2. The Next Dance

Title: The Next Dance  
Words: 2282  
Genre: Romance  
Pairing: Laurel/Oliver  
Status: Done

Summary: _Laurel and Oliver go to a charity event together as friends at Poison and they're are some mishaps along the way and they understand that feelings are kind of complicated. _

* * *

"Laurel, are you ready? We're gonna be late. And I don't want to give him the satisfaction of the fact that we're gonna be late," Oliver bemoaned.

The him in question was Daniel Davies, Felicity's new boss and boyfriend and Laurel chuckled as she put on her earring. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you sounded jealous of Daniel." Laurel said as she came out. " with her purse and jewelry done up, her hair perfect in its updo.

"You look beautiful," Oliver said and outstretched his hand for her to hold, he smiled. "You ready to go to Poison?"

She took his hand and kissed the knuckles a little. "As ready as I'll ever be,"

"Thank you for doing this for me by the way." Oliver said, "It'd look really suspect if I came alone to this thing."

Laurel rolled her eyes. "You could have picked anyone Ollie. You just want to make Daniel jelly."

"Do not," Oliver looked absolutely scandalized by the notion. Laurel's eyebrow rose just a little and Oliver deflated, "okay, maybe a little, but I also don't want to go with anyone else. You're my best friend."

"Oh, I know, which is why I agreed to these shenanigans." She told him with a bit of a laugh as they exited her apartment.

At Poison there was a line of people waiting to get in and Laurel and Oliver stood there laughing a little at each other's jokes, enjoying each other's company.

When they got near the front of the line, they saw who was at the door, checking IDs. "Well, this is gonna be fun. Since we're technically banned for life." Oliver said through gritted teeth.

Laurel smacked him with the back of her hand. "Just be nice. We were invited. And I'm sure Max won't be too much trouble for us, since Daniel is working him some major publicity."

"You know I still don't trust that guy." Oliver said.

"You only don't trust him because he's dating Felicity and he's doing it before you are."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. "You're putting a lot of stock in that theory you know?" He grumped.

"I wouldn't if it weren't true," She said with a plastered smile on her face as they got to the front of the line.

Max laughed as he saw the two of them at the front of the line. "You have to be kidding me, right Lance?" He asked. "You came with this guy?"

"Yes, I did," She said as she straightened her spine.

Max chuckled, "You know you can do a lot better than him. You know, I think I'm gonna bet on your dance." He said with a wink.

"You think you wanna go easy on her, Max?" Oliver asked, annoyed.

"Why?" Max smirked, "Afraid someone else will steal her out from under you? Wouldn't that be a change?" He asked. "So Lance, I heard you do some great legal work, given a lot of people hard time, maybe if you're lucky, someone will reverse the situation for you," He winked at her.

Laurel entwined her fingers in Oliver's and squeezed. It signaled to him that she was uncomfortable. "You know you can bid on her all you want, I'm gonna win that dance with her. I'm not gonna let anyone else get the dance with my date," He said as he squeezed her hand a little in return. "Now are you gonna let us in?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know why I should, you are banned for life here at Poison, but maybe Lance can change my mind," He said as he leered at her.

"Please Max, just let us in,"

He smirked, "Beg me again, sweetcheeks," He said to her. "I just might,"

"Hey," A voice came behind Max.

Max looked over his shoulder, and saw Julian Iver. "Hey Jude,"

"Why you holding up the line?" Julian asked, with a none too pleased expression.

Max chuckled nervously, "Well, you see, these two, they are technically banned for life, because he banged my fiancee and she well, she is also very banned for life."

"Why is she banned for life?" Julian asked, perked up.

Laurel smiled, "Yeah, Max, why don't you tell him why I'm banned. Or I can. You know, it's a fascinating story, Mr?"

"Iver. but call me Julian," He said. "What'd you do to get banned for life?" He asked.

Oliver couldn't quite deal with this, "You know, we'd like to get in, me and my date, Miss Laurel Lance," He said.

"Ollie," Laurel said as she smacked him lovingly as she wrapped her body around him. "We can wait a minute. Anyway Julian, I'm banned from Poison because Max decided that he and three of his guards wanted to kick Oliver and another dear friends ass and they were doing a pretty good job of it when I came in and showed them all a thing or two, especially Max."

"No way!" Julian said as he smiled gleefully, "You got your ass kicked by a girl Max?" He asked.

"Yes," Max clipped out. "And now she's banned for life."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Are they on the list?" He asked.

"Well, yes, but…"

"No buts, come with me Miss Lance and Mr. Queen. Mr. Davies told me to tell you that he and Miss Smoak are very sorry they can't be here tonight, but unfortunately Mr. Davies father is very sick and they wanted to make sure that he was comfortable in the hospital." He said as he led them to their table. "But they mentioned that you two were are specific guests of honor for this, so you have this table up here." He said as he showed them a table with the celebrities. "Mr. Davies was moved by the story of Miss Lance and this is to help you rebuild the legal system."

Julian pulled out a chair for Laurel and she sat as he pushed her back in. "Thank you, I'll have to give my regards to Mr. Davies when I finally meet him," Laurel said as she blushed. She couldn't believe it.

"When does the auction start for the dances?" Oliver asked as he put his hand on Julian's arm.

Julian nodded. "They started the second people walked in the door and were checked in. Actually, everything will be controlled via the two tablets on the table. You just select a picture of the person you want to bid on and it will put a bid in. It will also inform you when someone has beaten an offer of yours." Julian told them. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah," Laurel asked with a smile. "How many dance are there gonna be?" She asked.

"Well, if all goes according to plan, two. One for the men to bid on the ladies and one for ladies to bid on the men." He told her.

She nodded to him. "Thank you so much," She said.

He smiled and left. "I forget how much people like you sometimes," Oliver said with a smile. He looked at her, enamored with her beauty.

"Oh?" Laurel asked. "What brings this up?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

Oliver looked shocked. "You didn't just hear Julian and Max both hitting on you?"

Laurel dismissed it. "Max was just doing that to get under your skin. And Julian, he was just being nice for Daniel."

"No, he wasn't." Oliver said.

"I mean he was cute, but not really my type." She told him as she smiled as she looked down at the tablet. "Besides, he heard you use the words my date. I thought this was something we were coming to because we were friends."

"Truthfully?" He asked.

She nodded. "Truthfully."

"You were the only person I wanted to take to this fancy shindig." He said. "And you know, it's always been a little bit more complicated than just friends with us." He told her with a sad smile.

Laurel put her hand on top of his, "Well then, Oliver Jonas Queen, is this a date?" She asked with a smile.

Unbeknownst to Oliver and Laurel there was a camera snapping a couple of pictures of them. "Yes, Dinah Laurel Lance, my heart, my idealism, this is a date," He told her as he linked their fingers and his whole demeanor changed as he looked at how perfectly they linked together.

"And you're not just saying that because Max Fuller tried to flirt with me?" She said.

He shook his head. "No," He told her, "Although, it certainly didn't hurt to keep you away from Max."

She picked up her tablet and smiled as she tapped the picture she wanted.

Oliver picked up his and looked at her picture, she was taking a fair price, but if there was one thing that he didn't do it was share his lady while he was on a date and so he was willing to pay any price for her dance.

They mingled a little bit as she held the glass of champagne in her hand as they talked. Oliver held her by the waist and kept their tablets in his other hand. When one beeped, he tapped the increase bid. He didn't care if he ended up paying for both of them, but for her to have a good time, it was all worth it.

"Dinner's about to be served and after dinner bidding will be closed," Julian said from the stage as the band continued to play lightly.

Oliver guided Laurel by the waist back to the table and put the tablets down. The waiters brought out the food and smiled, "Mr. and Mrs. Queen?" They asked.

Laurel blushed.

Oliver smiled, "Yes, that's us."

"Ah," They said as they put the risotto down, "Mr. Davies sends his regards. He hopes you enjoy the meal."

Oliver nodded, "We have been enjoying his hospitality so far." He said as they left.

"It's always a little weird to be called Mrs. Queen. I think they it intentionally sometimes." She told him.

They ate dinner and Oliver told Laurel a funny story and it actually felt like a date. It felt like they were nineteen again and they were going to one of his father's charity events. It was just them and no one could convince them otherwise.

"Well, I hope everyone had a good dinner, it is now time for the first dance, on the tablet you've been assigned, it should show who you are to dance with for the first dance."

It took a moment as they held the tablets in their hands, but it showed the picture pretty clearly. It was Oliver. Laurel smiled.

Oliver put his hand out, "May I have this dance, m'lady?" He asked and she gave him her hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.

"So how much did you pay to have this dance?" She asked him as she straightened his tie for him.

He wouldn't admit it, but the shiver that ran through him when she did, it was not from the cold, it was from something very very different. "I paid more than enough for it, but it was worth it. I dance the best with you." He told her with a smile and the music started.

"You know, you're gonna have to deal with your feelings for Felicity." She told him as they danced.

He spun her out and then spun her back in. "I can't act on them. Even if I did have feelings for Felicity." He told her as they took steps backward and then forward.

"You know, you had time." She told him. "She had a crush on you forever,"

"I was a little bit preoccupied with someone I couldn't have. Because she was a mourning." He told her. "It wasn't until it was too late and she realized that her new boss was amazing that I realized that maybe I wasn't acknowledging all of my feelings." He told her as they danced.

She stopped. okay, he wanted her. "And the thing about being with my sister?" She asked him. "Again."

He shrugged and tugged her forward. "I admit, that one was stupid, but it was a way to be close to you without being with you. She was comfortable because she knew everything that happened on the island and we could just do this thing."

"And what about now?" She asked him.

He twirled her around in a circle. "Right now, I'm on a date with a beautiful girl who I am in love with. But who also knows that I have feelings for someone else too."

She nodded. "Well, you know, I need you to deal with that before I get with you."

He nodded his head once. He looked into her eyes as the song started to die down, "You never told me," He said, realizing it, "who you bid on to dance with."

"But why?" He asked. "You could have had anyone. Anyone would have been lucky to have you."

She blushed, "Because I'm a little bit in love with you. Always and forever and the like, you know?" She asked him as her lips quirked up and she gave him a soft kiss as she let go of his hand and stopped dancing and held his neck in her hands. "I am willing to wait the universe over to be with you. Maybe, I'll date around, but it will always be you."

"People are gonna stare, ya know?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I don't really care, Ollie. We've been through it all before."

"Ready for the next dance?" He whispered.

She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "I'm always ready when I'm with you."


	3. The Middle of a Very Happy Ending

Title: The Middle of a Very Happy Ending  
Words: 2202  
Pairings: Daniel/Felicity, Laurel/Oliver  
Genre: Romance/Friendship  
Status: Done.  
Prompt: aeryn-crichton

Summary: _Laurel and Oliver spend some time at her apartment before she goes shopping with Felicity where she tries to get more information about daniel and then comes home for dinner with Oliver as "friends". _

* * *

His head rested on her chest as his hands squirmed on her belly. She kicked and squealed with laughter, "can you please stop that?" She panted with a full smile still on her face.

"I can doesn't mean I will," Oliver grinned, like an idiot at the beauty that radiated from her smile. He was gentler this time.

"Will you please stop that?" She said as she pushed his hands away from her belly, attempting to roll to the side so that he would stop.

Coming down to a one on the tickle scale, he looked into her eyes and pouted, "But why, Laurel? You love it." He said with some confidence behind it.

Laurel swatted away his hands. "Because you're gonna make me pee my pants."

He nodded and stopped and instead held her in his arms. "So what do you want to do today?" He asked. They had a beautiful saturday that was just waiting for them to do something.

She shrugged. "I was thinking about going shopping with Felicity."

"Isn't she going out with that new guy?" Oliver grumbled.

Laurel took his chin in her hand and smiled, "Is someone jealous he's not the whole world to ever girl in his life?" She asked him. It was funny seeing Oliver jealous. He didn't do it often, but when he did it was obvious.

"No, I'm not jealous, he just looks shady." He muttered under his breath. He was decidedly not jealous. Not jealous at all.

Which Laurel didn't believe for a second. "Yeah, no. I promise Felicity let me run through all of her fancy databases and Daniel's not got any precarious information in any of them, so can you just relax? Plus I'm gonna run him through the ringer when I have dinner with them next week. Besides, if I go shopping with her today, I can see what kind of information she can give me about this guy."

"What am I supposed to do while the two of you shop?" He asked as she got off the couch.

Laurel smiled as she looked back to him and went to her room, "Maybe you could call him and have a beer or something manly?" She said as her eyebrows knit together and she laughed.

"You know, it would really help if you were being serious about this." He said, in a grumpy kind of mood.

She giggled. "I am being serious. Do something manly with him. Or you can come with us. But we're probably going to be talking about how they have sex."

"I guess, I'll just go to the cave," He mumbled under his breath.

Laurel nodded. "You go do that and you do some salmon ladders, okay?" She asked him.

"We're on for dinner tonight though, right?" He asked.

She nodded to him. "Yep, we're on for dinner tonight. You're gonna watch sister wives with me tonight, right?" She asked him.

"We'll see," He said with a bit of a smile. He didn't understand her obsession with the show, but if it made her happy, he would eat dinner with her and watch the show.

She came out of her closet with a bustier on and some jeans and heels. "Can you zip me up really quickly?" She said as she turned her body so he could see the zipper.

He put his hand on her bare back and felt the soft skin, the nerves underneath his skin. He gently did it up and looked to her. "So where are you guys gonna go?" He asked.

"Why?" She asked him, "So you can spy on us?"

He put his hand over his heart and did a faux shocked face. "Me? I would never."

"Yeah," She said and shook her head, "There's no chance that I'm telling you. Now go." She told him.

"I love you," He said and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

She nodded. "I'll see you tonight. I love you too," She told him and reached up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He left and saw Felicity coming up the stairs. He waved at her awkwardly.

"Are you coming from Laurel's?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, we were just hanging out this morning. When you guys are done with the shopping trip, we're gonna have dinner and watch reality tv."

Felicity looked impressed. "Is that so?" She asked rhetorically.

"Is there a problem with that?" He asked.

She shook her head and headed up stairs. "Not a problem at all."

When Felicity got to Laurel's apartment, she found the door open as Laurel was putting the last minute things in her bag. "Hey, come on in, I'll be ready in just one minute." Laurel said as she realized her wallet was in the other room.

"So I ran into Oliver in the hallway," Felicity singsonged.

Laurel blinked at her, not understanding what was so impressive about that. "And?" She asked.

"He's cooking dinner for you? And watching reality tv with you?" She asked. "Isn't that like dating material?"

Laurel laughed. "You're gonna try all day to keep the focus on my dating life aren't you? Not gonna work. You're gonna tell me about Daniel."

"I'm just saying you spend a lot of time together when you guys have free time together." She said with a cheshire grin on her face.

Laurel rolled her eyes. "I spend a lot of my free time with you too, does that mean I'm dating you? Ollie and I, we're just friends, until he can figure out what he wants from everything. He's cooking me dinner because I can't cook."

"You know, that if you guys get back together, you don't have to keep that from me? I'm gonna be happy for you. I've got Daniel." She told Laurel.

Laurel looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I know. And I promise, we're not keeping anything, but literally nothing is happening right now. So let's go shop and talk about Daniel. Because you need to tell me everything." She told Felicity.

"Shouldn't we be doing some shopping first? I feel like this conversation is gonna go a lot better with some retail therapy." Felicity blushed.

Laurel took her keys from their hanger. "This is totally not over. You're not getting away from me. Don't even try to be sneaky," Laurel said as she narrowed her eyes at Felicity.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Felicity said as they went down the stairs and drove to Nordstroms.

"So Daniel," Laurel said as they stepped out of the car and crossed the threshold into Nordstroms.

Felicity looked down at her shoes and laughed. "Damn, you don't miss a beat,"

"I'm a lawyer. It's what I do." She told Felicity.

Felicity conceded that Laurel had won though. "What do you want to know about him?" She asked.

"Oh, what don't I want to know about him?" Laurel asked as she flipped through a rack of jackets, "But let's start off with an easy question, how old is he?"

"Twenty eight."

Twenty eight was conservative. A little bit older than Felicity herself, but younger than she and Oliver. That was good. "So he's close to his dad?" Laurel asked.

Felicity nodded as she grabbed a great little top to wear to the office. It was a little sheer, but still work appropriate. "Yeah," She said. "Poor thing is the hospital."

"I know," She said to Felicity, "Or you would have heard the story of Max totally skeeving on me at the charity even earlier."

Felicity looked up from the rack and to Laurel. "No way."

"Yes, way. Julian Iver came and saved us though," Laurel said as she smiled to the rack and picked out a skirt to try on. She didn't know if it would look good or not, but she was willing to try.

Felicity smiled. "So how'd you like Julian?" She asked.

Laurel shrugged. "He was nice. Definitely impressed with the fact that I kicked Max's ass and that's why I'm banned for life at Poison. By the way, next time your boyfriend wants to have a fancy charity event can we please make it somewhere that I don't have to tell stories like that to get in?" She said as she looked up.

Felicity threw her head back and let out a belly laugh. "I'll let Daniel know. But he's nice, does that really cover your opinion of Julian?"

"Yeah, I mean, it was weird. It was a sort of date between me and Oliver. And Ollie claimed that he was hitting on me, but I think he was just being nice."

Felicity looked around the display and to Laurel, "If I tell you something, will promise not to tell Oliver?"

Laurel chuckled. "Oh, Liss you know I never promise that, but tell me anyway and I'll think about it."

"We saw you fix his tie."

Laurel picked up her head and looked at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Besides, I thought the two of you were supposed to be visiting his father in the hospital."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. And we decided to sneak in to see how it was going. And you and Ollie looked pretty cozy." She told Laurel.

Laurel shrugged. "He was my date. That's what you do when you're on a date. So 28, cares about his father, sneaks into his own charity event, which he was conveniently absent from. What kind of company does he run?"

"Do you really want to talk about his company?" Felicity asked as she raised her eyebrow.

Laurel shrugged, "No, but you keep changing the subject. And he never comes to the allotted events. You asked me whether you should date this guy, but I've never met him. And I need to be able to grill him." She told Felicity.

"You know, we don't mean to skip out on the dates that you've been planning." She told Laurel, "But we are gonna make it up to you, I promise. And you can grill him all you want when we get there. The very next time I promise we'll come."

Laurel looked up. "Next time?" She asked.

"Next time." Felicity nodded.

"So I could plan dinner for tomorrow and you both would come so I could grill him about his intentions and his personal history and credit score and maybe introduce him to Ollie who will intimidate him into submission?" She asked.

Felicity sighed and shook her head, "Yes, even if you did that. You know, I actually think it would be easier to have you and Ollie there at the same time, because then it might be less bloodshed when Oliver meets Daniel."

"Well, I will take that into consideration." Laurel said. "But we're not having dinner tomorrow. I'll text you the details when I figure everything out. I promise," She said. "Now let's do some major shopping Liss," She said with the best grin that Felicity had seen on her.

Felicity shook her head and laughed, "I'm ready for that Laur,"

"One more question," Laurel said as she picked a couple more things from the rack as they went to go look at the shoes.

Felicity rolled her eyes. There was always one more question. "Yeah?" She asked.

"How's the sex with Daniel?" She asked with the most mischievous grin.

Felicity shook her head. "I'm so not talking about that with you, especially since it will get right back to Ollie."

"God no, girl code." Laurel said, disgusted.

Felicity gave her a pointed look. "Please. Neither of you can keep anything from each other. He'll ask you once and you'll say no and then he'll ask you again and you'll spill. I've seen it happen. No way."

Without a second thought they want on and did more and more shopping. They talked a little about Daniel and a little about Oliver, but it was mainly about bonding over their love of fashion.

As Laurel came home, she put her shopping bags by the door and saw Oliver already in the kitchen. "You know it's customary to send a text when you're gonna be in someone's home unannounced," She said to him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He smiled. "How was your day with Felicity? Did you get any dirt on Daniel?" He asked as he stirred the sauce.

She shrugged. "Not that much. But they apparently snuck in and watched us dance at the charity event,"

"Oh?" He asked, "Well, you know, that was some dance."

"She asked if we were dating." She told Oliver.

He nodded. "Well, people will always wonder."

"It looks good," She told him as she rubbed her nails on his back and he shivered.

"You need to stop that," He said.

She smiled, "Or what?"

"Or you're not gonna get to watch sister wives. and we're probably gonna have to tell people we're dating." He said as he captured her waist in his hands. "Plus, dinner, that could turn out bad."

"We could always order chinese," She said with a grin.

He kissed her forehead, "Don't tempt me. Go sit and watch your show."


	4. A Successful Interrogation

Title: A Successful Interrogation  
Words: 2611  
Pairings: Laurel/Oliver and Daniel/Felicity  
Genre: Romance/Humor  
Status: Done.

Summary: _Laurel and Oliver host a dinner to get to know Daniel, Felicity's new beau, to make sure that's he good enough for their girl. _

* * *

"Laurel, why do I have to get dressed?" He asked. "We're just having dinner in your apartment," He said as he fixed his tie for the evening.

She rolled her eyes. "Because it's not just dinner in my apartment, Ollie. It's dinner with Felicity and Daniel Davies. And I need everyone to look their best so that he knows we expect the best for her." She said as she fixed his black silk tie for him. "You never do this right."

"Five years on an island and you sort of forget the stuff like how to do the tie that your girlfriend always did for you anyway." He said as he looked in the mirror. "Besides, it's sexier when you do it." He whispered and kissed her behind the ear.

She closed her eyes for a minute and indulged him, but didn't let it go much longer than that, because when he went to go a little further, she opened her eyes and put a hand on his chest. "We cannot have sex now." She told him firmly.

"Ah, come on, it'd loosen you up. Make you nicer for the dinner of doom." He said as he tried to capture her waist.

She shook her head. "Nope. We need to be on our sharpest, because we are gonna interrogate Daniel Davies together, remember," She said, holding his face. He nodded. "Good, now, can you make sure that dinner is ready and the table is set while I change into my dress for the evening?"

He chuckled and nodded. He left the room, but not before giving her a kiss on the forehead while she dropped her t-shirt on the floor, thankfully out of the way of the door. At least no one would see the mess in there. He didn't actually care that much about the mess they left the apartment in, but Laurel was insistent about house guests seeing nothing less than her perfect apartment.

He checked on the beef wellington, which he made and smiled, perfectly done. There were also truffle mashed potatoes and carrot risotto. He also looked in the oven where Laurel's red velvet brownies were. They were done, so he turned the oven off and let it set on the top of the stove for a minute, just to let the oven cool off, before putting them back in.

The doorbell rang and Oliver looked in on Laurel who was struggling with a zipper. "Here," He said as he put his hand firmly on her back and zipped her up. A red dress against her pale skin, it looked amazing. the doorbell rang again. "They're here."

She turned around and smiled at him. "Are you nervous?" She asked him while she stretched up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He shook his head. "I'll only be nervous if I get blood on that gorgeous dress of yours. Although that would be a great way to get you out of it," He said as he stroked his imaginary beard.

She shoved him in front of the door and smiled as she opened it. He nearly immediately put his hand on the small of her back and they both smiled at the couple who stood before them, "Hey guys," Felicity said as the sweat rolled down her forehead, "So we're here. This is my boss and new boyfriend Daniel Davies," She said. "Daniel, these are my friends, and he is my ex-boss, Oliver Queen."

"I've heard such good things about you," Daniel said with a kind blush. "Felicity said that you don't drink, so I brought you these," Daniel said as he pulled out a nice arrangement of beautiful lavender and cream roses.

"And for the record, we do drink, just not in front of her father. Who believes the only way to quit a bad habit is cold turkey and abstinence. Laurel and I have been working on her road back to normalcy," Oliver said as Felicity went with Laurel into the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

Felicity looked at Laurel, "So you and Oliver working on the road back to normalcy with drinking. That must mean that trust is pretty intimate." She said with an eyebrow raised.

Laurel smiled. "You know already?"

"Laur," Felicity said as she grabbed her friend's shoulders. "You have nothing to worry about. In fact, you both could use a little companionship. Being a superhero is hard work and there are only so many people you can share that with. He's a good one."

"You mean you're okay, with me and Oliver? I thought you wanted it to be you and Oliver if Daniel didn't work out." She said, looking over Felicity's shoulder to make sure the boys hadn't killed each other in the time that they were chatting over flowers.

Felicity shook her head. Oliver and her. She didn't know if it would work out in the way that she had wanted it to for so long. "You know, I did, but if tonight goes well, I have to say, I don't see this ending for awhile. Besides, even if I wanted Oliver, I would have had to face the fact that any girl who gets him, they don't really get him. They just have a loan on him. You're always gonna be his girl."

Laurel smiled to Felicity before she left as Felicity followed behind her into the living room. Laurel put the flowers on an end table by the couch and smiled over to Oliver. Felicity went to stand by Daniel who kissed her on the head. "So what are we having? Because I am starved." Daniel said.

Oliver opened his mouth but before he could get any words out, Laurel started, "We have Beef Wellington with truffle mashed potatoes and a carrot risotto. I'll start making plates if Oliver would like to pour some wine,"

When dinner was served, Laurel looked over to Daniel, Felicity still sat beside him, nervous like a bunny that her friends wouldn't like her new boyfriend.

"So how did you guys start talking about something other than work?" Laurel asked as she stared at Dan while cutting her food.

Dan chuckled a little. "Well, I mean Felicity is one of the best assistants I could ask for. She's funny and brilliant and knows how to answer a phone, not to mention she looks great which is an asset to the team, but she accidently put a personal date in my calendar and so I ended up at her place."

"Yeah," Felicity said, with a sparkle in her eye, "I was so surprised he came. I mean over at my place." At that moment everyone stopped and almost let her keep going even though it might make her uncomfortable. It didn't even register to the rest of the table that she had something slightly dirty until she paused and pointed it out with her silence. "I mean that he was in my apartment, while I was having my Harry Potter Marathon with a couple of my colleagues."

"So the boss came to a non-work function?" Oliver asked as he poured some wine.

Daniel laughed. "Well, you know, I thought maybe since my very valuable assistant who is very good at her job put it in my calendar that it would be important."

"So how'd you like it?" Felicity asked.

Daniel blushed and looked to Laurel and Oliver and then looked to Felicity, "I loved it. I mean your buddies are so very passionate about Harry Potter. I admit I was a little out of place, but I always sort of feel like I am."

"I mean it could have been worse. It could have been the day when you showed me your willy." Felicity said without thinking.

Oliver choked on his wine and Laurel's fork dropped to her plate. "He showed you his willy?" Laurel asked as she picked up her napkin and coughed into it.

"Well yes, but not in this instance. It's not what you think, I promise," Felicity said as she blushed bright pink. "His wooly willy." She said and she realized that wasn't better. She put her hand on her face and then pulled it down. "Dan, why don't you take this?" She asked.

"Of course," He said, kissing her on the top of the head, before he turned to Laurel and Oliver. "It's a toy. It's an antique toy from the 1950s. I feel nostalgic for mine, but my nephew whenever he comes to the office loves to play with it. And it was his birthday just a few weeks ago, so I asked Felicity to find another for me. But in order for her to find the right one, she needed to see it." He said and laughed. "I admit, I didn't sell it well. Sold it about as well as Felicity just did."

"So you like antique toys and charity events? Those are some pretty varied interests." Oliver said. He put a bite in his mouth and looked at Daniel in the eye.

Laurel slapped him with the back of her hand. "You can give the guy a little bit of credit. I mean that dance was pretty amazing. Even if we had to deal with Max." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, did Max harass you two? Felicity didn't tell me that you guys had problems with Max. Or else we would have chosen a different venue. Or tried to be there."

Laurel put her hand on Daniel's wrist and smiled. "Felicity didn't know. Max had a problem with Oliver and a friend."

"You can say his name. Just because he's dead, doesn't mean we can't say his name. And it's not your fault." Oliver said as he kissed Laurel's temple and held her hand.

Laurel nodded and let out a breathe. "Max had a problem with Oliver because before Ollie came back from the dead, Oliver Queen slept with Max Fuller's fiancee at the rehearsal dinner. There was an altercation for Oliver and Tommy. Which I got in on and kick Max's ass. Which got us all banned for life." She smiled. She liked recounting the tale of kicking Max's ass because he deserved it. "Luckily your friend Julian was there."

"How'd you like Julian? Felicity said that you wanted to meet some of my single friends. Julian, he's one of the best people I know, but he has the worst luck with women. And men. I'm surprised he didn't hit on you, Oliver." Daniel said as he smiled.

Laurel and Oliver looked at each other and their lips turned up. "He flirted with Laurel, but I don't think I was his type. Maybe he didn't know I was available." He said looking into Laurel's eyes.

"Maybe I should tell him," Felicity said as she smiled to Oliver and Laurel with her eyes while keeping them on the plate.

Oliver set his utensils down and wiped his face with his napkin. "I don't really think that's a good idea, because I'm taken at the moment."

"Maybe he'd be a good fit for Laurel then," Dan's eyes twinkled as he winked at Laurel.

Oliver's eyes got as big as dinner plates for a second and then he slowed down his breathing. "Well, I think that would put Laurel in an awkward position since she's dating me," Oliver said as he took her hand and smiled into her eyes. "I have no idea why she takes me back, but I love that she does,"

"You owe me 100 bucks, Liss." Dan said as his grin widened.

Laurel and Oliver looked between them and then to Felicity and Daniel, "Wait, you were betting on us?"

"No, you totally owe me. I was the one who said it would come out at dinner. You said they would get together at dinner." She said with a bright smile and it was clear that Felicity was gonna stay with this guy for awhile.

Daniel shook his head. "I totally overheard you in the kitchen with Laurel. It came out to you in the kitchen before dinner."

"Wait, you were paying attention to what was happening in the kitchen earlier?" Oliver said as he looked Daniel in the eye.

He nodded. "Come on, you telling me you weren't? I saw your eyes go to that window. I mean from what Felicity has told me about the amount of people who have broken into your apartment." He said as he blushed a little. "We can totally help you with that by the way."

Laurel chuckled. "We've pretty much figured that out."

"That's good. I'd hate for anything to happen to Felicity's closest friends. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous coming over here, but we had the big meeting with my friends too. And of course, they all fell head over heels for Ms. Smoak," He said as he scrunched his face at Felicity.

"Well," Laurel said as she realized that plates were all cleaned. "Why don't we get dessert on?"

Oliver stood up and pulled out Laurel's chair and followed her to the kitchen. "So what do you think about him?"

"I think he likes her. Like more than likes her. And I think he's funny and charming and he's answered all of the questions that we've both had. They've done the meet the friends and she's met his father. And he showed her something really personal."

Oliver looked over to the happy couple gushing over each other with their hands entwined and shook his head. "You're right." He took some plates out of a cupboard. "Are you okay, about tonight?"

"You telling Daniel that you didn't want Julian to be hitting on either of us, because we were dating, yeah, I was okay with that." She said as she got out a knife and started cutting the red velvet brownies. "I'm glad that we're telling people now."

Oliver started putting the brownies on the plates and smiled to Daniel and Felicity to come over. "So Laurel made Red Velvet Brownies for you two," He said as he gave them each a plate and Laurel gave them forks.

"So what's the verdict of this interrogation?" Felicity asked as she dove into the red velvet brownie. "This is delicious by the way."

Laurel laughed. "We like him."

"Well, Laurel likes him. I'm okay with him. And I will not hesitate to break you," He said now looking at Daniel, "if you hurt her. But if you keep her happy, we'll be happy. And I think you've a spot at the next Queen Charity event."

"Oh, totally, if you hurt her, taking you out by the kneecaps will seem like a blessing," Laurel said and she looked like a fierce little dog. She was definitely not someone Felicity would mess with. "But I like you. And he'll come around," Laurel said as she bumped Oliver with her shoulder.

Daniel took a glass from the table and took a drink from it, "I promise you I fully expect that. If someone didn't threaten me with bodily harm for dating her, I think it'd be a lost trip. And now I've got two of you." He said.

"Do you want your glass?" Oliver asked Laurel.

Laurel nodded. "Yes, I would." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Oliver brought back hers and his own. "I think this deserves a toast, but what to?" He asked.

"Let's toast to," Felicity started, "A successful interrogation?"

Laurel nodded. "That sounds like the right thing. To a successful interrogation."

And the boys joined in. "To a successful interrogation."


End file.
